The Suzhou Museum was established in 1960. It is a local comprehensive museum and also the center for the collection, protection, research, display and education of cultural relics in Suzhou. The West Hall of Suzhou Museum is located at 399 Changjiang Road, High-tech Zone, with a construction area of 48,365 square meters and an exhibition area of 13,391 square meters. More than 2,100 pieces/sets of cultural relics are on display, including the sword of King Yueme of Wu, the golden sutra on blue paper ‘The Lotus Sutra of Wonderful Dharma’, and the Jun kiln tripod with drum nails for washing. It began trial operation on September 25, 2021. The West Hall of Suzhou Museum has multiple exhibition areas such as the General History Exhibition Hall, Suzhou Craftsmanship Exhibition Hall, and Multimedia Exhibition Hall. It comprehensively showcases the long history and characteristic crafts of Wudi from multiple aspects such as culture and art, Suzhou craftsmanship, and Suzhou-style life. Based on Jiangnan culture, the West Hall of Suzhou Museum also specially sets up an International Cooperation Hall. It cooperates with world-renowned museums and actively explores the connection and integration of diverse cultures in the world. The West Hall of Suzhou Museum pays more attention to and highlights the educational function of museums. For the first time, it attempts to set up an exploration experience hall in a domestic local comprehensive museum to create a domestic museum school for young audiences, so that they can understand Suzhou City and look at the world in an open, interactive and exploratory experience.
The General History Exhibition Hall
The General History Exhibition Hall is located on the first floor of the West Hall of Suzhou Museum. The exhibition hall area is 2,280 square meters, and the exhibition line is 360 meters long. More than 1,200 pieces/sets of cultural relics are on display, including more than 150 sets of key cultural relics. The exhibition starts from three dimensions of city, history and people. Taking space, historical facts and people as clues and following the chronological order, it showcases the history of Suzhou spanning ten thousand years from the Paleolithic Age on Sanshan Island to the outbreak of the 1911 Revolution.
Suzhou Craftsmanship Exhibition Hall
The Suzhou Craftsmanship Exhibition Hall is located on the second floor of the West Hall of Suzhou Museum. The exhibition hall area is 2,280 square meters and displays fine Suzhou works from the Song and Yuan Dynasties to the present and contemporary times spanning a thousand years. The exhibition displays a total of 900 pieces/sets of cultural relics, including 150 sets of key cultural relics, including jade carvings, bamboo carvings, Su embroidery, Taohuawu New Year woodblock prints and other traditional crafts. The exhibition aims to reveal the glorious achievements of Suzhou craftsmanship and the key role of Suzhou craftsmanship and Suzhou-style culture in the development of Chinese traditional culture and art.
International Cooperation Hall
The International Cooperation Hall is located on the second floor of the West Hall of Suzhou Museum. The exhibition hall area is 1,037 square meters. Taking the history of world civilizations as the main line, it is committed to enhancing the international perspective of the West Hall of Suzhou Museum. Through exhibitions held in cooperation with world-renowned museums, it provides audiences with an experience of seeing the world without leaving Suzhou.
Multimedia Exhibition Hall
The Multimedia Exhibition Hall is located on the basement floor of the West Hall of Suzhou Museum. The exhibition hall area is about 540 square meters and includes three areas: the digital hall of Suzhou-colored life, the audio-visual room and the derivative space.
The digital hall themed ‘Suzhu Life’ showcases Suzhou’s life aesthetics under the framework of the twenty-four solar terms, drawing color extraction from traditional cultural life aesthetics. Through digital media screens, it creates an immersive digital synesthesia space scene, presenting the life of Suzhou under the changes of solar terms, seasons, and days.
The Exploration Experience Hall, located on the underground first floor of the Suzhou Museum West Pavilion, covers an exhibition area of 4501 square meters. It focuses on the comprehensive development of children aged 3-12 with a ‘theme-based’ exhibition-education combination approach, integrating exhibition halls with educational spaces. Interactive experiences through exhibitions and education stimulate children’s imagination and creativity, providing them with a dedicated space for exploration, learning, and imagination.
Opening Hours: Closed all day on Mondays throughout the year; Open from 09:00 to 17:00 on Tuesdays to Sundays throughout the year; Open from 09:00 to 20:00 on National Day.
West Hall of Suzhou Museum
The Suzhou Museum was established in 1960. It is a local comprehensive museum and also the center fo[...]
